


16th Day of Winter - Crowning the Nabe King

by unjaundiced



Series: Winter Spirits [19]
Category: Naruto
Genre: 25 Days of Christmas, 25 Days of Fic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-06 10:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5412878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unjaundiced/pseuds/unjaundiced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi hates nabe, so why is he so determined to be in charge?<br/>Set the year after <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/5399051">Meet You Under the Mistletoe</a>. Iruka and Kakashi are 14 and 15. Minato and Kushina are 23. Naruto...3 months old!</p>
            </blockquote>





	16th Day of Winter - Crowning the Nabe King

Kakashi hunched in and stared pensively at the bubbling pot, absentmindedly bouncing Naruto on his knee. The baby leaned against his chest and happily blew bubbles with his spit, drool running down his chin. Then he suddenly turned and his damp chin touched Kakashi's cheek.  
  
"Oh, _gross_ ," Kakashi complained, holding the baby away from him. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as his head slid down Kakashi's arm. The teen hurriedly corrected the baby's posture and cradled his head.  
  
"Naruto's not _gross_ ,”Iruka declared, carefully leaning in to wipe the baby's damp chin. “He's just very...”  
  
“He's full of fluids,” Kakashi offered flatly.  
  
" _No_ , he's not full of _fluids_ ,"Iruka huffed, folding the cloth diaper to hide the wet spot.  
  
"I beg to differ,” the older teen countered, pointing to Naruto's lower half. “He is full of fluids and will soon be empty of them. And I do not do diapers.”  
  
"Poor baby,” Iruka murmured, carefully dislodging the blue-eyed child from his acerbic babysitter.  
  
"I'm not a baby,” Kakashi pouted, wiping his face with a napkin.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you, though you are a baby as well,” the younger teen shot back as he carried Naruto towards the bathroom. Kakashi watched them go with a frown.  
  
"You should turn that frown upside down,” Minato chided as he stirred the dashi in with the kombu. “Or your face will stay like that.”  
  
"Aren't you going to be a doctor? How can you be a doctor and perpetuate lies? I should have you sued for dissemination of false information that could lead to a malpractice,” Kakashi shot back, pouting a bit when his mentor only laughed.  
  
"Kakashi-kun, we're not at the hospital and you know what I mean.” The man smiled genially as he pushed a small ladle and tasting dish towards the disgruntled teen. “Taste, please. It's only stock so it shouldn't offend you too much.”  
  
Kakashi glared at that.  
  
"Oh come now. Kakashi-kun doesn't do anything so pedestrian as _taste_ things,” Kushina teased as she settled at the table. She was still a little tired looking from the strain of Naruto's birth. It had been a highly complicated ordeal and she looked like she wasn't sleeping well.  
  
Kakashi spooned a sip of broth onto the dish and turned away to take a quick sip. Rich salty, earthy flavors burst across his tongue. He had to fight the urge to lick his lips. He shrugged. “Tastes okay.”  
  
"That means it's really good,” Iruka piped up, gently bouncing a powdery smelling Naruto on his hip. “I should know. I speak Kakashi.”  
  
"Oh, there's my baby boy,” Kushina cooed, reaching her arms out to the baby. Naruto did that weird jerk that babies tend to do and waved a tiny fist at her, making a strange _bu bu bu bu_ sound.  
  
"I really hope you didn't teach him how to blow raspberries,” Kakashi complained, scooting his seat over as Iruka crowded into his own. Minato pushed the bowl of raw noodles towards him and Kakashi mindlessly dropped some into the broth.  
  
"He didn't need me to teach him that,” Iruka replied primly, sequestering raw ingredients in front of his tablemate as Kakashi started snapping his chopsticks at his hands and tried poking them. “Stop that!”  
  
"Stop _touching_ everything,” Kakashi bit out, pinching the back of Iruka's wandering hand. “Stop it! Mess things up and you will know Montezuma's Revenge for a week!”  
  
"Now who's the one spreading false information,” Sakumo teased as he entered the room.  
  
"It isn't _false_ ,” Kakashi countered. “It is a well known fact that improperly handled foodstuffs may lead to food poisoning, dysentery, outbreaks of Trichinosis, Escherichia coli, Aphtae epizooticae—” Iruka reached for another bowl and Kakashi pecked at his hand with his deadly chopsticks of denial. “—influenza, the common cold, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis _B,_ Herpes simplex—” He reached out warningly as Iruka poised to move something else. “—and most importantly—death.”  
  
"I have really got to stop letting you read medical texts,” Sakumo mumbled glumly. Minato dittoed that.  
  
"Who's ready to eat?” Nanori practically bounced into the room with a tray piled high with raw seafood. Iruka resignedly raised his hand. The woman just smiled and set the tray on the table before settling into her seat.  
  
"Who's going to start?” Kushina piped up bravely, carefully turning Naruto to face the table. Everyone looked at Kakashi and didn't say anything.  
  
"Mah, what's all this attention?” he pondered, sitting back in his chair.  
  
"Would _you_ like to start? Nabe King-sama?” Iruka gingerly prodded the vegetable tray towards his friend, ready to retract his hands at the first sight of chopsticks.  
  
"I don't like nabe.” Kakashi frowned.  
  
"For someone who doesn't like it, you sure are bossy about it,” Iruka grumbled, reaching out to grab one of the tongs from the pile. Kakashi had a horrible mental picture of the tongs being touched by everyone on the table—even Naruto—and the germs that were sure to spread.  
  
"Take care of us well,” Kakashi purred, happily setting down his chopsticks. Iruka froze.  
  
"I am _not_ doing this alone and I am _not_ serving you,” Iruka stated firmly, removing his hand from where it hovered. “You want to be in control, then you do it.”  
  
"I don't like nabe,” Kakashi repeated.  
  
"You can't both _not_ like nabe _and_ order us around and tell us how to make it. It's just hot pot! It's supposed to be easy!” Iruka threw his hands up with an aggravated groan.  
  
“But I don't like nabe,” Kakashi protested. “I just don't want everyone to get sick.”  
  
Minato buried his face in his hands and waved at him, moaning as if in pain. “Just do it already, Kakashi-kun. It's too much trouble.”  
  
Kakashi frowned and picked up the tongs, looking around at the expectant faces. He shrugged. “Well, if you insist.  
  
"Now see, this is when you put the crab legs in. And if you stand them up like that, it looks visually pleasing as well as imparting a good flavor as the shell cooks out. The cabbage cooks fast so that can go in a little later. The konnyaku can go in now, but it has to come out quickly so the meat can go in now as well so there's something to eat with the konnyaku and—” Kakashi kept up a running monologue with himself as his hands flew, deftly plucking raw ingredients off their dishes and arranging them beautifully within the stone pot.  
  
"Welcome to Kakashi's Cooking Show,” Iruka muttered. “Tonight: The Nabe King's Winter Hot Pot Special. Come watch and be abused.”  
  
"Really, Kakashi-kun. We go through this every year. If you want to be the Nabe King, just tell us,” Nanori commented, smiling with amusement. Kakashi quickly grated fresh bonito over his new creation and sat back.  
  
"I told you. I don't like nabe.”

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted on Livejournal in 2011 as part of the annual 12 or 25 Days of Christmas challenge. The story takes place by years and utilises Japanese honourifics as a necessity. I tried to use canonical names wherever possible and created original character names as needed.
> 
> Due to the conditions at the time, the writing is a bit clunky but will largely remain unedited.
> 
>  
> 
>  **Vocab Notes**  
>  Nabe - (nah-bay) Japanese hotpot made by cooking all the items at the same time in broth before serving
> 
> Kombu – (koh-m/n-boo) essentially kelp (normally dried) and added to soup stock for both flavor and texture
> 
> Konnyaku – (koh-n-yah-koo) yam starch noodles. Semi-transparent and chewier than rice noodles. They can take a longer cook time than rice or buckwheat noodles.
> 
> Dashi – (dah-shee) Almost any Japanese soup base made with fish or kelp


End file.
